Chapter 19 #2
My mom is thrilled, for the record. She doesn’t care about Angel being younger than I am.
Or that she’s a single mom. “That means she’s mature,” my mom replied when I first told her.
“She has her priorities straight. And she has a little girl…” She sniffled.
“I’ve always wanted a little girl to spoil.
Not that you’re getting married yet, but maybe one day… ”
Maybe.
Hopefully.
I kiss Angel once more for good measure before replying, “I guess it is a good thing you have me, then.”
Her gaze meets mine, soft with affection. “I’m glad I do.”
Over her shoulder, I notice Alec snickering. Hazel is watching us with hearts in her eyes.
“Hey.” I shoot a stern look at Alec. “What are you laughing about?”
His eyes widen innocently. “Nothing.”
“Nothing? Really?”
After a moment, he grins. “Just appreciating how the tides have turned. That’s all.”
Angel turns to look at him. “The tides?”
“Yeah,” he replies. “I seem to remember a certain someone poking fun at me when I got together with Hazel. Something like, Oh, I thought you wanted to stay single. What happened to that?”
“Well, I hadn’t met the right person yet.” I tuck a piece of blonde hair behind Angel’s ear. “Although, technically, I had met her. I just hadn’t gotten my head out of my ass yet.”
In front of us, there’s a high-pitched giggle, followed by a childish, “Did you hear that? He said ass.”
“Nice.” Alec smirks. “You’re going to get us kicked out before Haley even comes on stage.”
“Sorry,” I mumble in the kid’s direction.
“Anyway. When is this thing supposed to start?” I pull out my phone to make sure the battery is fully charged.
I’m planning on recording the entire performance, just as Angel is.
And I’ll admit, I can’t wait to see Haley in her starring role as The Fox of Christmas Yet to Come.
“Six-fifteen,” Angel says. She peers at my phone. “It’s only a few minutes past. I’m sure the kids are just taking a little longer to get ready.”
Then she twists in her seat to look behind us. “Wow. It’s a packed house tonight. I hope the kids don’t get nervous. Last year, poor little Mallory Linden got stage fright, and she—”
Angel sucks in a breath.
My heart lurches. “What?”
She squeezes my hand to the point of pain. “Justin. He’s in the back.”
My gaze follows hers. And yes, there’s Justin, standing in the far left corner, alone.
Alarm shoots through me.
I catch Alec’s eye and jerk my head in Justin’s direction. “Do you see that?”
A beat later, Alec nods. “I see him.” He starts to stand. “I’ll tell him to leave.”
“No.” Angel leans across Hazel to touch Alec’s arm. “It’s okay. As long as he stays there… I don’t want to make a scene. Not with the play so close to starting.”
I get what she’s saying. But still, I don’t trust him. Which is why I quickly shoot off a text to Gage.
Justin is here. Back left corner by the wall. Can you watch him?
I could do it myself. But that would mean leaving Angel alone. And I really don’t want to.
Gage’s reply comes in almost immediately.
On it.
He stands and makes his way to the back of the auditorium, close to where Justin’s standing. Then he nods in affirmation. If Justin tries anything, Gage will stop him.
“Gage has it under control,” I assure Angel. “See?”
She bites her lower lip before forcing a weak smile. “Okay.” After a moment, her smile strengthens. “It’s fine. It doesn’t matter if he’s back there.”
“Right.” I kiss her cheek. “We’ve got it all under control.”
Except the expression on the drama club advisor’s face as she hurries off the stage hints otherwise.
She looks worried.
My pulse jumps.
Maybe it’s nothing, I tell myself. It’s probably nothing. Just a kid with stage fright, like Angel said. And the advisor is coming to find the kid’s parents.
But she’s not looking for another kid’s parents. The woman—Miss Webber, who looks like she couldn’t be more than twenty-two—spots Angel and nearly runs towards her.
Angel flashes a scared look at me. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know,” I reply. “Maybe Haley’s feeling nervous. With her big role and all.”
“Ms. Nilsson.” Miss Webber sounds breathless as she rushes to us. “I’m so sorry. But have you talked to Haley?”
Angel stiffens. Her shoulders tense. “Talked to her? When?”
“While she was getting ready?”
“No,” Angel says. Tension laces her voice. “Why are you asking? Where’s Haley?”
The young teacher squeezes into the row, so she’s closer to us. “Because she’s not backstage. I looked everywhere. She was there when we did our motivational cheer. And when I went over all the last-minute instructions. But now… she’s gone. None of the kids have seen her. I was hoping—”
Angel jumps to her feet. “Haley’s missing?”
Fear clutches at my chest. “What time did you see her last?”
Hazel and Alec stand alongside us. Alec is tense. Hazel looks worried.
To my other side, Frank asks, “What’s going on with Haley? She’s missing?”
Wendy makes an alarmed sound. “Haley’s gone?”
“It couldn’t have been even ten minutes,” Miss Webber tells me.
“I’m sure it was less than that. But it’s just me and a couple of parent volunteers.
I can’t watch all the kids all the time.
” Her chin wobbles. “I don’t… Haley’s one of the most responsible ones.
She helps the little kids with their costumes. I didn’t think—”
I turn to Alec and bark, “Check the security cameras.” Then I glance over my shoulder at where Gage and Justin should be. They’re both still there—Justin still standing slightly apart from everyone else, and Gage not ten feet away, watching him intently.
“Justin,” Angel starts.
“He’s still back there.” I yank out my phone and shoot off a text to Gage.
Haley’s missing. Find out what Justin knows. Don’t let him out of your sight.
I watch Gage as he reads my message. He doesn’t respond. He just goes over to Justin, clamps his hand around Justin’s arm, and marches him out of the auditorium.
“Gage will find out if he knows anything,” I tell Angel. To Alec, who’s already tapping away on his phone, I add, “Call Enzo. Sage. Patrick. Shit, call Max and Sawyer, too. I want as many feet on the ground as possible for this.”
Hazel glances at Frank. “We need to start searching.”
He nods, looking more solemn than I’ve ever seen him. Then he taps his wife’s arm. “Call all your friends. Tell them we have a little girl missing.” His face seems to age a decade in a second. From what Angel’s told me, Frank’s the closest thing Haley has to a grandfather. “We need to find her.”
“Ronan.” Angel tugs at my hand. “We need to look for her. What if Sharon… Justin…”
“We will.” Wrapping my arm carefully around her, I guide Angel down the row and into the aisle. “We’ll find her.”
Curious voices buzz as Angel and I rush out of the auditorium with Alec, Hazel, Frank, and Wendy close behind us. When we burst into the hallway, Gage is there, looming over Justin and firing questions at him.
“Ang!” Justin’s gaze darts to Angel. “What’s going on? Is Haley—”
“Don’t talk to her,” I snap.
Angel casts a desperate glance up and down the hallway. “Where could she be?” she asks me. Her voice trembles. “What if someone took her? What if—”
I turn her so she’s facing me. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. She could have wandered off. Maybe she got stage fright, like you said, and she’s hiding in one of the bathrooms.”
“Wandered off?” Her brows shoot to her forehead. “She’s nine. She wouldn’t just wander off.”
It doesn’t sound right to me, either. But I’m terrified to think about the alternative.
Alec comes to my side. In a low, urgent tone, he says, “Enzo’s on the way. So is Knox. They’re bringing in Sawyer and Max. I texted Patrick and he’s headed over with Sage. If Haley isn’t in the building, he said they’ll put out an Amber Alert.”
Angel whimpers. “An Amber Alert?”
“Hopefully, she’s in here,” Alec tells her. “It’s the most likely explanation.” His phone buzzes, and he glances at the screen. “Enzo’s bringing a couple of thermal imaging cameras. And one of the drones. Gage can fly it over the surrounding area if he needs to.”
Wendy hurries over to us. Her face is drawn. Pale. “I sent out a group text to my book club,” she says. “There are ten of us. They’re putting out the call for help. So we can all search.”
“I can’t wait,” Angel insists. “I need to do something. Search the school. Outside. Something.” Tears well up in her eyes. “Ronan. I need to find my baby.”
I feel like crying, too.
Haley’s supposed to be on stage, playing the role she’s so excited about. Then we’re supposed to take her over to Max’s property for the snowmobile sleigh rides he hosts every year. Then we’re going back to Angel’s to watch The Night Before Christmas and we’re going to each open a present and—
Fuck.
It’s hard to breathe past the fear.
But I have to. Angel needs me.
Taking a deep breath, I hold it for a few seconds before releasing it. “Okay. We’ll search the school first. We can take the second floor. Hazel—” I turn to her. “Can you search the art wing? And Frank. Wendy. Will you look in the cafeteria and the library? Text if you see—”
“She left the building.” Alec looks up from his phone. “I just caught her on the security camera, leaving school. She went out through the door in the cafeteria.”
Angel’s nails dig into my hand. “Was she alone?”
Alec nods. “She was. And she was moving quickly. Not running, like she was scared. But she was definitely in a hurry.”
I have no idea why Haley would leave. But the reason isn’t important right now. All that matters is finding her.
“Fan out,” I announce. “We need to split the area into quadrants. We—”
“Ronan.” Alec cuts me off. “Just go. I can coordinate the rest of it.”
He’s not offering to take over because he thinks I can’t. He’s offering because he knows Angel needs to be out there. And that I need to be with her.
“Okay,” I tell him. “We’ll head out.”